photo by: Mike Yoder

Ibram X. Kendi, right, speaks with KU professor Kevin Willmott Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, at the Lied Center. Kendi, an award-winning author and antiracism advocate, was the Self Graduate Fellowship’s featured symposium speaker for fall 2021.

In a conversation that spanned the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the politicization of critical race theory, Ibram X. Kendi ended with the idea that the country can heal from racism and even overcome it.

Kendi, the author of “How To Be An Antiracist” and “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” which won the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction, spoke Thursday at the Lied Center as part of the Self Graduate Fellowship Symposium. University of Kansas film professor Kevin Willmott joined Kendi on stage for a conversation about antiracism.

One of the ideas that Kendi emphasized was that everyone, himself included, has racist ideas, and that just recognizing that was part of becoming an antiracist. Kendi said that growing up in the U.S., everyone has been constantly and persistently subjected to racist ideas through all sorts of messaging, and that it’s important to understand that throughout history the notion that those ideas are not actually racist has been “baked in.”

“The heartbeat of being racist is denial,” Kendi said. “That’s how you can have a nation with widespread inequities and still have people imagine that racism is a myth.”

He further defined being antiracist as challenging racist ideas and policies while supporting antiracist ideas and policies. Kendi said to be antiracist, we have to admit the times we were being racist and repair the damage that was caused. How to accomplish that, as individuals and as a country, was at the heart of many of the questions Willmott asked Kendi.

When asked his thoughts on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Kendi said that people are deeply divided over what they consider to be an existential threat. He said that unfortunately many Americans have been manipulated to believe that the existential threat is everyone being able to easily vote or a person who doesn’t look like them in a position of power. Instead, Kendi said that bigotry and white supremacist domestic terrorism are the real existential threats.

Kendi said despite all the inequalities that persist, there is mass denial about the existence of bigotry, and the country needs to be concerned about not only the scale of the division, but the scale of the denial.

Willmott then asked Kendi about critical race theory, which includes the decades-old concept of institutional or systemic racism but recently became a political lightening rod after right-wing media claimed it was being used to indoctrinate children, prompting parent protests at school board meetings.

Kendi said that the pliability of the term and the fact that many people were unfamiliar with CRT or misunderstood it allowed propagandists to “pack it with meaning and serve it to the American people.” He said children notice racial disparities and inequities around them — that there are more Black and Brown people in poor parts of town, for instance — and if they aren’t taught about why those disparities exist, Black children will think something is wrong with them and white children will think they are superior.

“So that’s the two and two that kids of all races are going to be putting together,” Kendi said.

Addressing racism as adults was another topic. Using a hypothetical “Uncle Joe,” Willmott asked about Kendi’s approach when someone says something racist. Kendi said in addition to acknowledging the denial at play, it’s important to recognize that in many ways that person is addicted to those racist ideas.

“When we think about addiction, we recognize the responsibility of the individual but also think about the causes and environment that led someone to develop that addiction,” Kendi said.

Kendi said hopefully that framing leads to a certain level of compassion, and he said that just like with substance addiction, the first step is overcoming the denial. He said having a trusted person as a guidepost was also important, and one way to help someone be self-critical and self-reflective about their own racist ideas is to make yourself vulnerable and admit the racist ideas you’ve had and where you struggle.

He said those conversations can be uncomfortable, but some treatments — like surgery to deal with an injury — are uncomfortable but in a constructive way rather than a destructive way. In the end, he said constructive discomfort can ultimately offer healing.

“I think we as a nation can’t shy away from constructive discomfort,” Kendi said. “… That’s the notion of constructive discomfort: we grow, we heal. And we really need to grow and heal from racism.”

The audience applauded at that line, and Kendi also had more optimistic words to offer. He said fuel for the antiracist movement is hope. For those who doubt change is possible, Kendi named various ideas that at one point were thought to be impossible, such as the 13 colonies gaining independence from Britain, ending slavery in the U.S., and having a Black president.

“I’m constantly thinking about how the impossible has happened, and that gives me hope,” Kendi said. “And in order to bring about change, we have to believe change is possible.”

Kendi left the stage to a standing ovation.

Several attendees spoke to the Journal-World about what stuck with them from the conversation. Some said they appreciated the simple language Kendi used to talk about racism.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde

Sahara Scott

Sahara Scott said she appreciated the thought that discomfort can bring healing, and the idea of looking at that as a process.

“Everyone has to overcome this healing of racism in order to be antiracist,” Scott said.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde

Jesse Gardner

Jesse Gardner said she liked the idea that hope was central in the antiracist movement, especially given all the difficulties facing the country and world.

“So just keeping that in our hearts and minds to really push us forward is super important, I think,” Gardner said.